Yeah, I think it would've been better, had the alternate-universe Steve Rogers been a Native American.

That said, it did present the idea that, due to his status as a war hero, Native Americans never faced the same level of discrimination and mass atrocities. Which led to a much greater Native influence on modern culture. I thought that was a fun idea.

I like how there's this arranged coy little tension in their faces being positioned to kiss, but then you look down and the shapes of their bodies pull your eyes in downward V and you see their hips are already mashed together. His and her belt both reinforce the pull into their point of contact. I like their facial expressions and how her breasts are just ever-so-gently smushed down as she leans up into superman. The pairing of batman's hand coming off screen and the cat touching her butt is cute. I love how her whole body and costume are just a black outline too: it brings your eye back to her face due to the contrast and it reemphasizes her face and his face as the focal point. I like the echoes of his hair curl and her hair curls that follow her gaze but give it a stylized, sinuous quality. The top of Superman's head makes a simple curve toward Catwoman who is arresting his attention, but even as the little curl of his hair and the draw of the arc carries through to the moon above her, the back of the moon curves back to Superman and drops down at the further left black string tying to a star just behind Superman's head and then your eye pulls back into that loop. Whatever is churning in Superman's head is going in that circle which is trapped between the circle of her bent arm, the line in his sleeve, and all of the strings' lines pushing down from above.

I love the arrangement of the stars and the moon. You know Superman is going to kiss her because Batman's hand is the only tiny counterweight to pull him back, but the whole rest of the composition is shifted to the right and it arcs downward into Catwoman. The black strings and the moon/stars create a little capsule around Superman and Catwoman but they are clearly tilting all of the weight through her and down her back and through the cats that merge with her outline. The moon especially is weighted to her with only that single lingering star as a doubt behind Superman. Batman might interrupt the tension, but his hand is a gray and black shape disconnected from Superman's whole bright blue and red chiaroscuro so it renders Superman fairly impervious to Batman saying "No." Meanwhile the cat whose arms and paws mimic Batman's arm shape are connected and merged as part of Catwoman's black outline, pulling you much more assertively to her and the bottom right corner of the image. The whole layout tells you Superman is being lured in to kiss her as she shifts her weight up closer to him.

Blue Beetle, by Love and Capes' Tom Zahler. Very nice dude! I didn't stay and chat long, but the commission came out looking awesome. Also? He was stationed next to a My Little Pony artist, whose line never had less than five people in it. On his right? The writer for Sonic the Hedgehog. It was a interesting crowd, around that table.

Blue Beetle, by B+F's Gregory Benton. I'd never heard of him before the show, but the comics on his site are pretty great, so I'm going to see about ordering his new book. Also, just a super nice guy.

Blue Beetle, by Marauder's Jordan T. Neves. This was my first con, and Jordan was the first artist I'd approached to chat with, which had me feeling a bit anxious. But, he set a good tempo for the rest of the day, by being very cool, in spite of his table being located between a garbage can, and a bathroom. He doodled this Blue Beetle on a business card-sized piece of cardstock, after I bought three of his mini-comics.

Dungeon, by Mermin's Joey Weiser. I was only passingly familiar with his work, but he seemed pleasantly surprised I knew what Dungeon was. Maybe it was my Captain America tanktop and vaguely southern accent? We got to chat about Trondheim and Sfar for a minute, which is always nice.

And a picture of my girlfriend as a wizard, done by Natalie Andrewson. She was doing this cool thing where, for ten bucks, she'd snap a picture of you on her phone, and then draw you as a wizard. Could not have been a cooler lady, despite being very busy.

I also got a bunch of prints, postcards, and mini-comics. I talked to some people I hadn't really intended to, who were amazingly cool, and some people I really wanted to talk to, who were less-than-awesome. I even met @jyrenb and his wife, for some beers and comic talk.

Definitely a fun way to spend a weekend. Surprisingly cheap, too. Right until I got pulled over for speeding, less than thirty minutes from home, following an eighteen hour drive.

That Guardians image is a fun concept, but the execution's not quite there, in my opinion. I think line weight has a lot to do with it. The simplicity of the Hanna Barbara style hides how well a lot of their stuff was actually designed. Instead of vaguely applying a GotG theme to existing characters, it would have been better to design the characters in one of the Hanna Barbara styles.

As for the Superboy, it's probably my least favorite type of comic art, so I was surprised to see how awesome some of the color work in that guy's sketchbook on his blog is. (occasionally NSFW)